Ham's Tales

Tom, our Resident Beer Geek (aka Probably a Stout) is moving on to pastures new at Northern Monk Brewery to do what he loves, brew beer. Here is his final Ale’s Tales. It’s finally here, the thing you’ve been waiting all week for; circled on your calendar, the notification on your phone, the thing that Continue…

Although the weather might not have realised it, it’s August, and as the month that is supposed to bring sunshine and happiness pokes its head round the corner, so does Leeds Beer Week (#LBW17). So rain or shine, there will be a plethora of great beers to fill your glass with here at Friends of Ham, Continue…

A bit like the last game in the Crystal Maze (yes a bit odd, but this analogy is going somewhere), great beer can come from anywhere, and sometimes it can be very hard to get your hands on, especially when there is a very short period of time that it’s available. Luckily for you though, Continue…

Like that workmate who puts it in the office calendar, or that one friend who posts daily countdowns on Facebook, we’re here to remind you that it’s our birthday next week! And yes, we are excitedly counting down the days for what is to be an amazing night of festivities. Move aside Christmas, it’s five Continue…

My friends often ask me what the perks are to my work as a Manager at Ham & Friends. Last Tuesday was without doubt one of those wonderful perks. We had the pure meaty joy of one half of the brains behind The Ham & Cheese Company on site giving us a training session on Continue…

As of this week, we have brand new opening hours at Friends of Ham Ilkley. We’re really excited to introduce these new hours, as they enable us to focus Mondays and Tuesdays on staff training, stock takes & ordering, event planning and lots of other behind the scenes duties. This means that when we’re open and Continue…

Our featured producer this week in the Ham & Friends Food Hall is Wild Beer Co. Why have we featured a Brewery when we are meant to be a wine bar, you ask? Well the reason is twofold! Our event next Wednesday (Cannons At The Ready, Its Friends vs Ham – tickets available here) is Continue…

Hello from the side of Friends of Ham that is 99.9% meat free, with malt, barley, water and hops being the speciality. Feel free to guess what the 0.01% is. As always, we have some of the world’s best beers hitting the taps and fridges this week. But first: like that one friend who likes Continue…

You can always tell when a person is passionate about their work. It starts with a misty look in the eye whenever someone shows an interest and leads to long, interwoven and tangential answers to what, on the face of it, seem like simple questions. So it is with Andrew of fabled London cheesemonger Neal’s Continue…

This probably isn’t the first you’ve heard this: Beavertown came up and did a banging beer dinner with us and it was great. Five beers, five dishes, five post-bite smiles all round. Clare talked us through our five special brews and about all things Beavertown whilst dishes flowed down the stairs from the, once again, Continue…

If there was one word that summed up beer for this week at Friends of Ham, in fact, the only word that could sum it up, it would be: Beavertown. This Wednesday we become ‘Fram-ertown’ with our Beavertown beer dinner and tap take over, ‘Fram-ma Ray’. On top of these clearly amazing puns, we’ll have Continue…

It’s fair to say that there is a beer for everyone, be it in our fridge, keg or cask, we’ve got you covered. It’s also fair to say that everyone has a favourite few breweries, the ones that whenever you see a brew by them you just have to try it. It can be hard Continue…

I say this a lot but I’ll say it again; here at Friends of Ham, we ensure that the beer we have in bottles, cans, keg, cask, growler, hollowed out scrimshaw tankard etc. etc. is the best we can possibly offer you. Be it cutting edge experimental brews, or a white whale beer that you Continue…

Before you ask; yes. Yes we have got brand spanking new beers for you… this is Friends of Ham after all, searching the world of beer like Sauron looks for rings. And with the weather being how it is this month, we have a brew for every occasion, rain, shine, sleet, or any combination of Continue…

Another Monday morning has passed, and with that, another day scouring list after list of delicious beer for the gems; the crème de la crème, the cream of the crop, the beers that, when we see them, a stream of light bursts out of the computer screen, Pulp Fiction suitcase style. Verdant – I Played Continue…

Another week and another set of marvellous beers are hitting our fridges; and with the quick removal of a bottle cap, the opening of a tap or the flick of a pull tab, all of that beautiful beery goodness can be yours. This weeks theme: Dugges and water. I’ll explain. Firstly and more simply, we Continue…

There’s a bit of a stereotype that Monday mornings are the bane of everyone’s life. Not at Fram Towers. Mondays mean new beer. Our office is filled with excitement, tears of joy – once I even saw a party popper go off – as we bring you the best possible beer, turning our joy into Continue…

In March of this year our very own Ham’s Tales booklet was featured in the Fedrigoni Top Awards, held at the The Museu del Disseny in Barcelona. Ham’s Tales featured as part of the international exhibition which showcased some of the best work that used Fedrigoni paper. We produced Ham’s Tales in collaboration with the supremely talented design due, Continue…

Team Ham trotting around markets and arches in… The Big Smoke. Words by George Brabin, Kitchen Manager. The phrase we hear on the Ham Bar more often than not is how lucky we are to work with such amazing charcuterie and cheese. We couldn’t agree more, and what’s more it’s an absolute joy to work as Continue…

We know we’ve not really got spring going yet, but the sun’s out this afternoon (trust us, it was), and we’re daring to let our thoughts drift into Summer. Summer in Leeds can mean only one thing; the return of Leeds Indie Food Festival (aka #LIF17), the city-wide celebration of independent food and drink culture. Continue…

January is almost over. For some of us it has been a dry January, or a try-anuary, or a gym-pass-that-might-not-see-the-light-of-day-after-a-month-or-two-at-the-most-anuary. However you spent the month, we think January should go out with a bang, so here at Friends of Ham we’re putting together the perfect event to ensure that happens. It’s time to celebrate a pre-valentines day love Continue…

To add to the utterly mental year that is 2016, there has been a change to this year’s calendar; Christmas day has been moved to December 1st. Eat all 25 chocolates in your advent calendar, chuck the turkey in the freezer next to the tuna and tell Uncle Steve that he’ll have to talk to Continue…

Working in a place like Friends of Ham makes you appreciate the incredible hard work that people put into creating delicious products. We hear stories of Italian bus drivers making the best Nduja known to man and French farmers trekking up mountains to bring the cows in for the winter to produce incredible Vacherin. It’s Continue…

Winter is coming. The nights are drawing in. Warlocks will play and winds will shout. But it’s all grand because we have Beavertown taking over Friends of Ham for Hallowe’en weekend and bringing some extra special brews with them. Alongside classics like Gamma Ray, Neck Oil and soon-to-be classic Lupuloid, we will be showcasing some Continue…

Can’t believe we’re nearing that time of year already. Join us for our annual NYE extravaganza to bring in 2017! We welcome back the brilliant Backyard Burners to provide the evening’s entertainment, you’ll also get a fine selection of ham and cheese served up for you, and of course a glass of fizz for when Continue…

As if Autumn couldn’t get any better, we are now bringing back Raclette sooner than planned due to the very high demand! (crazy,we know!) Our first batch lands THIS Monday, so make sure you don’t miss out. To book a table, go here: http://www.friendsofham.co.uk/book-a-table-at-leeds/ and quote ‘Rosita’ to receive the extra special Raclette gift of love 🙂

Feels like an eternity since we had the lovely aromas of Ogleshield fill our bar, and we’ve never been more excited about bringing it back to keep us warm in the winter months. Keep your eyes peeled as it should be making its comeback in the next few weeks…

Volvos. ABBA. Pickled herring. Sweden has produced some of the finer things in the world. And now they can add smashing brews to the list. Omnipollo, Brekeriet and Dugges will be appearing on our draught lines and in our fridges over the next week or so, so get excited. My picks… Brekeriet Funkstarter Secondary Continue…

Leeds Beer Week and Leeds International Beer Festival have come and gone, leaving us – and the rest of Leeds – more excited about beer than ever. To celebrate another year of beer we’ve decided to do what we do best; provide you with amazing beer. Here are my picks for this coming week… Thornbridge Continue…